The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, is set to be confirmed by the Senate for his reappointment by the President for another five-year term in office.
This was disclosed in a Press statement published by the Commission on Monday.
The President has since approved his reappointment for another five-year tenure, and he has been screened by the Senate Screening committee.
The Committee will report the outcome of the screening exercise to the House for confirmation of Danbatta’s reappointment during the next legislative sitting.
Backstory
During his screening recently, the Senate screening committee commended his deep knowledge of the industry, and results seen in the telecoms sector in his first 5-year tenure.
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Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, a prominent member of the committee, who represented the Chairman of the Senate Screening Committee, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, during the screening, as well as other committee members, including Sen. Sandy Onor, Sen. Abiodun Olujimi, Sen. Bamidele Opeyemi, Sen. Omar Jeff, Sen. Kashim Shettima and Sen. Bukachuwa, commended Danbatta’s impressive performance in piloting the affairs of the country’s digital ecosystem.
Oloriegbe noted that the screening and confirmation exercise is in accordance with the provisions of Section 8 subsections 1 and 4 of the Nigerian Communications Commission Act (NCA), 2003.
Notable among his achievements was the establishment and implementation of the NCC’s auspicious strategic 8-Point Agenda, which gave the direction for the activities of the commission throughout the five year period.
He also presented to the committee efforts made to improve the sector’s contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as well as improvements in Quality of Service (QoS) delivery, broadband infrastructure deployment, broadband penetration, effective spectrum utilisation, consumer empowerment, technology innovation.
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Also in line with the strategic 8 point agenda, Danbatta discussed the commission’s efforts in curbing fraudulent Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) registration and 112 Emergency Number towards ridding the country of insecurity, among others.
Danbatta thanked the lawmakers for their support over the last five years and pledged his renewed commitment to further accelerate the growth of the telecoms industry, as the key driver of the country’s digital economy vision over the next five years.
“As a Commission, we are committed to challenging our current achievements. Consequently, we are poised to work more with the National Assembly and other necessary stakeholders in order to ensure we take Mr. President’s digital agenda for the country to the next level in the next five years,” he said.